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Grassley, Enzi and Snowe could help Baucus move a bipartisan bill out of their committee only to see Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cast aside their agreements when he merges the Finance bill with a more liberal version approved by the Senate health committee.

Enzi said he wants some guarantees that Reid will incorporate Republican proposals.

“I am not trusting anybody,” Enzi said. “I need those assurances to know that what we are doing is not just providing the pay-fors for a very liberal bill.”

If Republicans involved in the talks can hold off on completing a deal until after the recess, the chances of actually reaching one could diminish significantly.

“The only way to craft a truly bipartisan bill and include as many Republicans as possible is to make clear the bill they are pushing now doesn’t stand a chance,” a GOP aide said Wednesday. “The longer it goes, the more likely we are to have input.”

If the Finance Committee hopes to begin a markup early next week, the bipartisan group will need to reach a deal by this weekend.

"It is hard to assess how close we are," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

Republicans, including Enzi, raised questions about the validity of the Congressional Budget Office estimate that the Finance Committee bill would cost under $900 billion, given that Baucus said several key outstanding issues still need to be resolved. Baucus aides said later that no matter which way those issues are resolved, the bill would stay under $900 billion. The committee declined to release details of the CBO estimate.

Enzi said he wants to see the legislative text and a “true CBO score” before he signs onto any deal.

“They are not even close to having exact language let alone a CBO score,” Enzi said. “There are big issues, big issues. We outlined 13 big issues. We’re not through the 13 yet. Then you got to get into the smaller parts of each of those, which are more detailed, which we have been asking questions of which we haven’t gotten all the answers back.”

Of course, there are still major hurdles before this bill even gets to the House floor.

Party leaders still need to marry whatever Waxman moves out of his committee with related legislation passed out of the Education and Labor and Ways and Means committees. The merged bill will likely include changes to a surtax on the wealthiest households. The Ways and Means bill would tax individuals who make more than $280,000-a-year and couples who earn more than $350,000, but the speaker has suggested raising the rates to $500,000 and $1 million, respectively. House Democratic leaders have also said they are open to a Senate proposal that would tax top-of-the-line health care plans to fill in any gaps to help pay for the bill.

Republicans, meanwhile, are ready to use the August recess to rip the bill apart and attack Democrats in their home districts.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters on Wednesday that he believes Obama should “scrap” the House Democratic health-care proposal and start over again.

“I think it’s time to scrap the proposals that they have on the table and hit the reset button, if you will, and then find a way to work together to do real health care reform that lowers costs and increases access for the American people, ” Boehner said at a Christian Science Monitor lunch appearance. “…One of the reasons that Democrats may be pushing so hard before the leave is they know that if this bill hangs out there for the August recess, my guess is that it will be shredded, and when they get back they will have nothing.”

John Bresnahan, Karthyn McGarr and Abby Phillip contributed to this story.

Readers' Comments (905)

Excellent news! As a conservative, I hope and pray the worthless, spineless Blue Dogs cut yet another one-sided deal with their abusive parents, Pelosi and Waxman. I will celebrate all weekend if these guys are stupid enough to take this vote the day before they go home to their districts for a month.

No other act could better ensure a quick Republican resurgence in congress.

If the Dem's think that ramming this through so Obama can put a gold star on his forehead is going to impress Americans, they have a big surprise waitng for them. Most Americans would rather see steady progress, with a greater guarentee of cost containment and more fiscal responsibility, than just handing the President a "victory" before the August recess. But if this gets jammed down our throats, I believe it is a much greater risk to the political futures of both Democrats and President Obama than if no bill were passed this summer at all.

Of course, what else would we expect from this bunch?... a "deal' afterdays of arm twisting and bribes...Since there will not be a vote, the constituents will get their chance to verbalize their concerns during the recess. All this news sounds like the major Rahm Emmanuel spin to make the Obama plan seem like it has any life. All the spin can not stop Obama's tanking in the polls. I am enjoying watching the implosion of the Democratic party due to their bulldog tactics..There is no decorum that commands any respect on what we see in the current methods of the Obama administration.

If the Dem's think that ramming this through so Obama can put a gold star on his forehead is going to impress Americans, they have a big surprise waitng for them. Most Americans would rather see steady progress, with a greater guarentee of cost containment and more fiscal responsibility, than just handing the President a "victory" before the August recess. But if this gets jammed down our throats, I believe it is a much greater risk to the political futures of both Democrats and President Obama than if no bill were passed this summer at all.

What do you think they have been doing for up to 18 hours a day for days? They have been working on cost containment, and making the Bill better. Its lke making sausage.....the process is disgusting but the result is worth it.

Of course, what else would we expect from this bunch?... a "deal' afterdays of arm twisting and bribes...Since there will not be a vote, the constituents will get their chance to verbalize their concerns during the recess. All this news sounds like the major Rahm Emmanuel spin to make the Obama plan seem like it has any life. All the spin can not stop Obama's tanking in the polls. I am enjoying watching the implosion of the Democratic party due to their bulldog tactics..There is no decorum that commands any respect on what we see in the current methods of the Obama administration.

Everything is political with you isn't it? Screw whose plan it is or isn't....and btw it isn't Obama's plan because he decided to let Congress do their job and write the law, but that doesn't matter you just want the Democrats to fail. It is okay to be afraid....Change is always scary but the water is fine.

Tell Congress those who vote for the Government Run Health Care Plan they should be forced to participate in the plan themselves. Rep. Flemings has put a bill on the floor to do just that. Resolution 615. Please sign petition telling Congress if it's good enough for "US" then it should be good enough for "THEM".

Have you noticed that all these "break throughs" are just another bunch of of people selling out everyone else in order to curry favor with their own constituents? What ever happend to true statesmanship? I think we should dump the whole damnedable dirty lot and start over and we should put Henry Waxman and all theose miserable Democrat chairmen, those who cooked this crooked mess up, on trial.

So, the Democrats are still intent on creating a Monopoly in Healthcare, a monopoly by the government. Well, I guess monopolies are efficient and they'll get to set doctors' and nurses' pay at whatever they deem fair and can afford. I'm glad the AMA is up for that. What is a doctor or nurse or really anyone really "worth" anyway. Instead of a G-1 or G-15, we can have steps like an H-1 or H-15 and there's nothing they can say about it because if they don't work for the government, who are they going to work for.

No government option please as it will take over the health care system. Defeat these blue dogs who have anything to do with a government option. It will just explode the deficit. Kill it. Tell these guys no government involvement that would end up costing us trillions.

I’ll be very curious to see how many House Republicans vote for this bill, but I’m betting money on NONE.

I agree. I am disgusted with how the Republican's are just marking time with the Country instead of trying to make anything better. It was the same thing with the Sotamayer vote. I think it is about time for Obama and the Democrats to realize that the Republican's are NEVER going to work with them to get things done so they shoud be ignored like small children throwing a tantrum.

Look at the expression on Mike Ross' face. It just dawned on him that he can kiss his political career goodby. His Arkansas constituents are going to tar and feather him when he goes home for the August recess. Heh, heh, heh.

I think you meant "lower than 500,000" - The legislation will now exempt small businesses with a payroll greater than $500,000 from paying for any government-sponsored health coverage - double the $250,000 in the initial draft.